Apparatus for the heat-treatment of textile material

ABSTRACT

The present disclosure is directed to a process and apparatus for the heat-treatment of textile materials wherein the material to be treated, for example thick material layers, can be heated shock-like to the treatment temperature and subsequently heated very uniformly. According to the present disclosure the treatment medium, for example steam, is evenly distributed throughout the treatment chamber.

United States Patent Fleissner et al.

[ Aug. 29, 1972 [54] APPARATUS FOR THE HEAT- TREATMENT OF TEXTILEMATERIAL [72] Inventors: Heinz Fleissner; Gerold Fleissner,

both of Egelsbach, Germany [73] Assignee: Vepa AG 22 Filed: March 24,1970 [21] App1.No.: 22,169

Related US. Application Data [63] Continuation-impart of Ser. No.655,549, July 24, 1967, Pat. No. 3,503,231.

[30] Foreign Application Priority Data March 24, 1969 Germany ..P 19 14885.7

[52] US. Cl. ..68/5 D, 68/177, 68/D1G. 5 [51] Int. Cl ..D06e 1/06,DO6c1/10 [58] Field of Search ..34/111,115,122,242,116,

34/123; 8/1493, 156; 68/DIG. 5, 5 D, 184, 5

3,450,486 6/1969 Fleissner ..34/115 X 1,163,252 12/1915 Millspaugh..8/156 3,343,187 9/1967 Schilfer ..8/149.3 2,833,136 5/1958 Prince eta] ..68/5 D 2,067,915 1/1937 Haeberlin ..68/184 Primary Examiner-EdwardL. Roberts Assistant ExaminerPhilip R. Coe Attorney-Craig, Antonelli,Stewart & Hill [5 7] ABSTRACT The present disclosure is directed to aprocess and apparatus for the heat-treatment of textile materialswherein the material to be treated, for example thick material layers,can be heated shock-like to the treatment temperature and subsequentlyheated very uniformly. According to the present disclosure the treatmentmedium, for example steam, is evenly distributed throughout thetreatment chamber.

21 Claims, 5 Drawing Figures ..u. o eonloo on'eusLmnv l jjovcP'ATE'N'TEmuszs m2 SHEET 1 OF 2 Inventors:

rmminwsz m2 3.686 90 2 SHEET 2 UP 2 mgs ' Inventory 051:1. FLEISSNER ,"4aEmLn FLEISSNFR APPARATUS FOR THE HEAT-TREATMENT F TEXTHJE MATERIALCROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS This application is acontinuation-in-part of application, Ser. No. 655,549 filed July 24,1967, now US. Pat. No. 3,503,231.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to anapparatus for the heat-treatment of textile materials, wherein theapparatus is provided with at least one treatment chamber, at least onesteam-permeable conveying ele' ment, preferably a conveyor belt of metalcloth and/or at least one sieve drum on which the textile material isguided through the treatment chamber. Above the conveying element,preferably a conveyor belt, there is provided another conveying elementdisposed at the inlet feed end of the treatment chamber which ispenetrated by a treatment medium. Said conveying element can be, e.g., asieve drum, sieve belt or vibrating chute, and is operable at asubstantially higher conveying speed than the other conveying element.

The combination of a sieve drum and a sieve conveyor belt as describedin the above-identified parent application is advantageous because itpermits the textile material to be heated, shock-like, to the treatmenttemperature and thus even very thick material layers can be heated veryuniformly.

Generally, a flow-through sieve drum which is provided with a conveyorbelt, serves as an inlet feeding unit. It has been found that there maybe disturbances at the point of passage between the feed conveyor andthe sieve drum because the material curls up or tangles at this point.At the discharge end of the apparatus, there is a water-lock, Le, awater curtain provided for sealing the treatment chamber. However, insome steaming processes with superheated steam, the material is dried.while being conveyed through the treatment chamber and should not bewetted at the discharge end. The treatment chamber, in accordance withthe parent application, is particularly advantageous for the treatmentof wide material lengths or for the treatment of a number of materiallengths. For narrow material lengths the treatment chamber must berelatively long if a high production capacity of, for instance, about500 1,000 kg/h is required.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION An object of the present invention is to avoidthe prior art disadvantages in the treatment of textile materials.

Another object of the present invention is to provide an improvedapparatus for the heat-treatment of textile materials wherein thetreatment medium, for example steam, is evenly distributed throughoutthe treatment chamber.

A further object of the present invention is to eliminate undesirabledisturbances which occur at the inlet of the heat-treatment chamber.

Other objects and further scope of applicability of the presentinvention will become apparent from the detailed description givenhereinafter; it should be understood, however, that the detaileddescription and specific examples, while indicating preferredembodiments of the invention, are given by way of illustration only,since various changes and modifications within the spirit and scope ofthe invention will become apparent to those skilled in the art from thisdetailed description.

Pursuant to the present invention it has been found that thedisturbances arising at the inlet end of the apparatus can be avoided byinstalling a steamor gasperrneable conveyor belt, e.g., a metal clothbelt at the inlet to the apparatus and by guiding this inlet feedconveyor belt around a second perforated conveying element, e.g., asieve drum, which is penetrated by the treatment medium. However, it isalso possible to replace the permeable conveyor belt by the upper partof the equally permeable feed conveyor, projecting into the treatmentchamber.

The overall length of the steamer can be substantially shortened byassociating at least one plaiting unit with the flown-through conveyingelement disposed at the inlet of the apparatus. The plaiting unit plaitsthe textile material transversely to the direction of material passageonto a conveying element, e.g., a sieve belt, which is disposed beneathsaid plaiting unit. It is advantageous to design the plaiter to have aswivelable plaiting nose and to arrange it beneath the inlet flowthroughconveying element in such a way that the material can fall freely fromthis conveying element into the nose of said plaiting device.

Air-tightness of the steaming chamber can also be obtained by arrangingthe outlet opening in the treatment chamber beneath the reversing pointof the conveyor belt and by installing underneath this outlet opening,and extending outside of the treatment chamber, a conveyor belt, a chuteor the like, by means of which the material that falls through saidopening can be removed from the treatment chamber for furtherprocessing, if desired.

It is desirable if the outlet opening of the treatment chamber isprovided with funnel-shaped elements for directing the materialtherethrough and depositing it onto the outlet conveying element.

A very good treatment effect, especially an absolutely uniform andshock-like heating can be obtained if a thin layer of textile materialis first penetrated by the treatment medium and if then a. substantiallythicker material layer is made to dwell in the treatment atmosphere. Forpreceding impregnating processes, as well as for the present dryingprocess, it is suggested to guide the material around the conveyingelement in the form of a material length, a spread-out tube or aspread-out group of filaments (e.g., tow). The material length, tube ortow is then combined together to form a rope and then zig-zag plaitedtransversely to the direction of material passage.

Apart from the above described advantages of providing a sieve drumsubjectto a suction draft at the inlet feed end of the steamer, there isthe further ad vantages that the fan which produces the suction draft inthe drum interior forces the steam to circulate in a circular motion atthe inlet feed end section of the steamer. This steam circulation isproduced because the steam is drawn in by the sieve drum at that sectionwhich is not screened off by the inner baffle plate, discharged into thefan compartment and possibly returned into the space surrounding thesieve drum passing through additional heaters on the way, whichregenerate the steam. This artificially produced steam circulationreinforces the natural upward flow of the steam which rises from thesteam producing water sump on the steamer floor. This steam circulationwithin the steamer compartment is very advantageous for an intensiveattack of the material by said steam.

Since the intensive steam circulation prevails only in the inlet feedend section of the belt steamer, it had originally been thought toarrange fans or the like over the total length of the steamer in orderto obtain a better steam circulation within the entire steam-treatmentchamber. However, this would have substantially complicated the designand measurably increased the manufacturing costs of the steamer. Inorder to resolve this problem, an artificial steam circulation in theentire length of the steamer had to be produced without, at the sametime, raising the manufacturing costs or complicating the construction.According to the present invention, this was achieved by providing ametal sheet rail which projects into the steam cycle, that is the sievedrum fan fan compartment housing sieve drum element, which diverts acertain amount of steam from this main steam flow towards the dischargeend of the apparatus. The rail interrupts the steam flow in the inletfeed end section of the belt steamer and guides the steam, which has acertain flow speed, over its total length towards the discharge end ofthe steamer. From there, the steam is then drawn back towards the sievedrum section by means of the negative pressure in the drum section thatis produced by the suction draft of the fan. By this effective means, adesirable steam circulation is advantageously produced in the entiresteamer.

An advantageous embodiment of the present invention is to provide themetal sheet rail along the entire length of the steamer and to installit near the steamer ceiling so that it does not impede material passage.This measure also ensures that the diverted steam is guided right to thedischarge end of the machine. According to the present invention it isdesirable if the rail is provided with openings which are arranged atcertain distances from each other and through which the steam is ledinto the treatment chamber. Thus, the steam is not only directed to thedischarge end section of the steamer but also over its entire length.Furthermore, devices for the vorticity of the air can be provided for onthe rail, near the individual openings.

Another advantageous embodiment of the apparatus according to thepresent invention is that the rail can be supported to be swivelabletowards the sieve drum so that, depending on the inclination of therail, a smaller or a larger volume of steam can be diverted from thesieve drum and distributed over the whole length of the steamer.According to a further feature of the present invention, this rail canbe U-shaped and upturned.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS The present invention will become morefully understood from the detailed description given hereinbelow and theaccompanying drawings which are given by way of illustration only andthus are not limitative of the present invention and wherein,

FIG. 1 is a longitudinal section of the apparatus of the presentinvention;

FIGS. 1A and 1B are cross-sectional views of the apparatus of FIG. 1taken along lines AA and BB, respectively;

FIG. 2 is a longitudinal section of an alternative embodiment of thedischarge end of the apparatus according to FIG. 1; and

FIG. 3 shows the apparatus according to FIG. 1, provided with anadvantageous constructional change, however.

The apparatus of the present invention comprises a perforated belt 1serving as an inlet feeding unit. This belt is guided around a sievedrum 2 which is subject to a suction draft. The section of the sievedrum 2 which is not covered by material being treated is screenedagainst the suction draft by means of a baffle plate 3. A swivelableplaiting nose 4 is adjoined to the sieve drum 2. In this plaiting nose 4the textile material 5, which was at first spread out as materiallengths, is taken together to form a rope and plaited onto a perforatedbelt, transversely to the direction of material passage. Control means20 for rotating sieve drum 2 faster than the perforated belt 6 is shownin FIG. 1A.

The steam-tight housing 7 is heated by means of heating coils 8 whichare installed at the ceiling in order to prevent any condensate fromforming on the ceiling. An overflow box 9 is provided at the dischargeend of the housing 7. Sealing is effected by means of a water curtain(sluice) 10. The liquor that flows through the textile material iscollected in a liquor container 11 and pumped back into the overflow box9 by means of pump 21 as shown in FIG. 1B.

In the container floor a heated sump 12 is provided for producing thesaturated steam. If the device is to be operated with superheated steam,the water is drained off the sump l2 and superheated steam blown intothe steam-tight housing 7.

At the inlet feed end of the apparatus an entrance chamber 13 isprovided. In this chamber the steam is circulated in order to remove theair from the material that is introduced into the apparatus.

In the embodiment of the apparatus according to FIG. 2 the outletopening 14 is arranged in the housing floor. The textile material 5falls through the funnelshaped opening 14 onto a conveyor belt 15 whichis arranged below said opening, said conveyor belt transporting thematerial to the subsequent processing aggregates. The specific weightdifference of air and steam ensures an excellent sealing of this openingin the housing floor.

Instead of a conveyor belt 6, a so-called boot or J- box (not shown) canbe used, into which, the material that has been heated on the sieve drum2 is introduced for dwelling purposes.

According to FIG. 3, in exact alignment with the sieve drum 2 a fan 16is installed in a well-known way which produces a suction draft in thedrum interior. The fan 16 is situated behind a partition wall 17 whichseparates the so-called fan compartment from the drum compartment. Fromthe fan compartment, the steam that has been drawn in by the fan, isblown through the heating tubes 18 where it is regenerated andrecirculated back into the treatment chamber of the belt steamer (seelines 19 illustrating the steam flow). The steam is again drawn from thetreatment chamber into the drum interior at that'section of the drumwhich is not screened off by the inner baffle plate 3 (see the arrows20).

From the steam flow 19 which is produced by the fan, a certain amount ofsteam 22 is diverted by means of a U-shaped rail 21 projecting into theflow 19 and guided towards the discharge end of the steamer because ofthe special shape of the rail 21. The steam movement that is thusproduced above the rail 21 is illustrated in the drawing by arrows 23.

The rail 21 leads right to the discharge end portion of the belt steamerand produces an additional artificial steam circulation from the feedinlet end to the discharge end and from there back towards the sievedrum 2; This ensures the steam movement that is necessary for thesuccessful treatment of textile material 5 to prevail over the entirelength of the steamer.

The section of the U-shaped, upturned rail 21 which is near the sievedrum 2 is swivelable towards the drum by means of a hinge 24 so that,depending on the specific requirements, a smaller or larger amount ofsteam can be diverted from the steam cycle that is produced by thefan'14 of the sieve drum 2 and which prevails at the inlet feed end ofthe steamer. The

diverted steam flows along the rail and a certain portion of it flowsthrough the openings 25 into the treatment chamber of the belt steamer,this outward flow being facilitated by installed vorticity units 26whereas the rest of the steam is returned at the end of the rail 21 andflows back towards the sieve drum 2.

The invention being thus described, it will be obvious that the same maybe varied in many ways. Such variations are not to be regarded as adeparture from the spirit and scope of the invention, and all suchmodifications as would be obvious to one skilled in the art are intendedto be included herein.

It is claimed:

1. An apparatus for the heat-treatment of textile materials whichcomprises a treatment chamber, means for providing a gaseous treatmentmedium within said chamber, at least one gas-permeable conveying meansrotatably disposed within said treatment chamber, at least one sievedrum means disposed above the gaspermeable conveying means at the inletend of the treatment chamber, said sieve drum means being subjected to asuction draft and thus penetrated by the gaseous treatment medium, meansfor rotating the sieve drum means faster than the gas-permeableconveying means, inlet perforated conveyor belt means ex-- tending intosaid treatment chamber for introducing the textile material to thetreatment chamber, one end of said conveyor belt means being wrappedaround the sieve drum means in the treatment chamber, and outlet meansfor allowing discharge of the textile material from the treatmentchamber and for sealing off the chamber from the surrounding atmosphere.

2. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the gas-permeable conveying meansis aconveyor belt.

3. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein heating means are provided in theceiling of the treatment chamber.

41. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein said outlet means includes anoverflow box provided at the outlet end portion of the treatmentchamber, above the 5. The apparatus of claim 4, wherein a liquidcontainer is disposed below the material being treated and means areprovided for recycling the liquid back to the overflow box.

6. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein a heated sump is provided in thetreatment chamber.

7. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein an antechamber is disposed in frontof the treatment chamber.

8. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the outlet means includes anopening disposed in the floor of the treatment chamber and a conveyorbelt is disposed below said opening for removing the material from thetreatment chamber.

9. The apparatus of claim 8, wherein said opening is provided withfunnel-shaped elements.

10. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the sieve drum means is providedwith a fan means which circulates the treatment medium in the treatmentchamber.

11. The apparatus of claim 10, wherein the sieve drum is provided with apartition means which separates the inlet end portion of the treatmentchamber into a drum compartment and a fan compartment.

12. The apparatus of claim 11, wherein heating elements are provided inthe circulation zone of the treatment medium of said sieve drum means.

13. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein a rail means extends from theinlet end of the treatment chamber to the outlet end of said treatmentchamber, said rail means diverting a portion of the treatment mediumfrom the inlet end to the outlet end and to various points along thetreatment chamber.

1d. The apparatus of claim 13, wherein the rail means is U-shaped and isprovided with a plurality of apertures along its length.

15. The apparatus of claim 14 wherein that portion of the rail meanswhich is near the sieve drum means is provided with a hinge means whichmakes the rail means swivelable towards the drum means.

16. The apparatus of claim 15, wherein vorticity elements are providedalong the rail means in front of the apertures disposed therein.

17. The apparatus of claim 13, wherein the rail means is disposed nearthe ceiling of the treatment chamber.

18. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein plaiting means are disposedbetween the conveying means and said sieve drum means at the inlet endof the treatment chamber for plaiting the textile material onto saidgaspermeable conveying means.

19. The apparatus of claim 18, wherein the plaiting means is aswivelable plaiting means disposed below the sieve drum means whichplaits the material transversely to the direction of material passageonto the conveyor belt.

211. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein said perforated conveyor beltmeans includes a conveyor belt made of gas permeable metal cloth.

21. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein said sieve drum means has aperforated surface and said one end of the conveyor belt means isarranged in contact with a portion of said perforated surface.

1. An apparatus for the heat-treatment of textile materials whichcomprises a treatment chamber, means for providing a gaseous treatmentmedium within said chamber, at least one gaspermeable conveying meansrotatably disposed within said treatment chamber, at least one sievedrum means disposed above the gas-permeable conveying means at the inletend of the treatment chamber, said sieve drum means being subjected to asuction draft and thus penetrated by the gaseous treatment medium, meansfor rotating the sieve drum means faster than the gas-permeableconveying means, inlet perforated conveyor belt means extending intosaid treatment chamber for introducing the textile material to thetreatment chamber, one end of said conveyor belt means being wrappedaround the sieve drum means in the treatment chamber, and outlet meansfor allowing discharge of the textile material from the treatmentchamber and for sealing off the chamber from the surrounding atmosphere.2. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the gas-permeable conveying meansis a conveyor belt.
 3. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein heating meansare provided in the ceiling of the treatment chamber.
 4. The apparatusof claim 1, wherein said outlet means includes an overflow box providedat the outlet end portion of the treatment chamber, above the materialbeing treated, said overflow box producing a liquid seal wherein theliquid penetrates the material at said end portion.
 5. The apparatus ofclaim 4, wherein a liquid container is disposed below the material beingtreated and means are provided for recycling the liquid back to theoverflow box.
 6. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein a heated sump isprovided in the treatment chamber.
 7. The apparatus of claim 1, whereinan ante-chamber is disposed in front of the treatment chamber.
 8. Theapparatus of claim 1, wherein the outlet means includes an openingdisposed in the floor of the treatment chamber and a conveyor belt isdisposed below said opening for removing the material from the treatmentchamber.
 9. The apparatus of claim 8, wherein said opening is providedwith funnel-shaped elements.
 10. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein thesieve drum means is provided with a fan means which circulates thetreatment medium in the treatment chamber.
 11. The apparatus of claim10, wherein the sieve drum is provided with a partition means whichseparates the inlet end portion of the treatment chamber into a drumcompartment and a fan compartment.
 12. The apparatus of claim 11,wherein heating elements are provided in the circulation zone of thetreatment medium of said sieve drum means.
 13. The apparatus of claim 1,wherein a rail means extends from the inlet end of the treatment chamberto the outlet end of said treatment chamber, said rail means diverting aportion of the treatment medium from the inlet end to the outlet end andto various points along the treatment chamber.
 14. The apparatus ofclaim 13, wherein the rail means is U-shaped and is provided with aplurality of apertures along its length.
 15. The apparatus of claim 14wherein that portion of the rail means which is near the sieve drummeans is provided with a hinge means which makes the rail meansswivelable towards the drum means.
 16. The apparatus of claim 15,wherein vorticity elements are provided along the rail means in front ofthe apertures disposed therein.
 17. The apparatus of claim 13, whereinthe rail means is disposed near the ceiling of the treatment chamber.18. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein plaiting means are disposedbetween the conveying means and said sieve drum means at the inlet endof the treatment chamber for plaiting the textile material onto saidgas-permeable conveying means.
 19. The apparatus of claim 18, whereinthe plaiting means is a swivelable plaiting means disposed below thesieve drum means which plaits the material transversely to the directionof material passage onto the conveyor belt.
 20. The apparatus of claim1, wherein said perforated conveyor belt means includes a conveyor beltmade of gas permeable metal cloth.
 21. The apparatus of claim 1, whereinsaid sieve drum means has a perforated surface and said one end of theconveyor belt means is arranged in contact with a portion of saidperforated surface.